Column: Educators are not obligated to give extra credit or curve grades

CHRIS BUCK | Midland College adjunct professor

Published 8:30 am, Wednesday, February 5, 2014

The precipitous idea that exams and even final grades should be curved, based on class performance, has become an all-too-common paradigm shift in my courses over the past few years.

I’m not sure where this idea originated, but it has surely been in place in much of students’ lower level education. Similarly, the idea that extra credit should be a required part of every course seems to have reared its head as well.

When I attended college — at several institutions — the idea of curving a grade was almost taboo. I did have the occasion to benefit from a curved grade — only two points as a result of a poorly formatted question — in one of my math courses. However, that is the only occasion I recall when a grade was curved in my favor. It seems that part of this trend could be related to the widening gap of contact between students and professors as a result of online education. When the students are, at least mostly, required to teach themselves the course materials, there exists the possibility that none of the students grasp a particular concept or idea. However, a student’s inability to achieve a goal on their own, provided they never reached out to the instructor for assistance, should not reflect poorly on the instructor.

Students have come to expect a curved average, as if they should not be graded on the material and quality of their work. When I break the bad news to them toward the end of the semester — although it was specifically stated in the syllabus on the first day of class — they ask what type of extra credit I offer. I find it interesting that students feel that there should be additional assignments that only benefit their grade. Because there was a failure on the students’ part, in some capacity, which resulted in a grade that they feel is below their standard performance, educators should not be obligated to give them a bonus.

At the risk of sounding too cynical, I feel that educators, trying to help their students, have inadvertently participated in what could only be considered grade inflation. I do not think that educators have watered down the standard of performance or the quality of education. They allow all students to succeed in their courses, and they do all that they can in an effort to help the students help themselves. However, I think that the students have mistaken an educator’s kindness for weakness and are pushing back in order to get the ever-coveted “A.” Once we, as educators, establish exams and testing procedures, we should not give in to the pressure from students to adjust the grades in an effort to make the exam fair in their eyes. Provided the questions were covered in the material presented to the students, including external reading assignments, there is no reason for us to allow students to misrepresent their ability or dedication upon the altar of the GPA simply because no student received a perfect score.

Christopher Buck is an adjunct faculty member and history professor at Midland College. He is also a Certified Professional Landman.